IU Health West Cath Lab curveball: His heart is right where it needs to be

Written by Bonnie Le, registered nurse in IU Health West’s Cath Lab

Thomas Kyle, a father and grandfather with a rare heart condition called dextrocardia, successfully underwent cardioversion at IU Health West, thanks to the Cath Lab team's careful preparation and understanding of his unique cardiac anatomy.

Cardioversion, or delivering an electric shock to a person to get their heart back into normal rhythm, sounds dramatic. At IU Health West’s Cath Lab, where we typically do this procedure 10 to 15 times per week, our team of doctors and nurses have it down to a smooth science. We do get thrown the occasional curve ball, though!

Enter Thomas Kyle, a lover of curve balls. Lover of all things sports-related, in fact: softball, football, golf, and the Indy 500, to name a few. Kyle has a unique condition known as dextrocardia. When he came to IU Health West for a cardioversion to treat his atrial fibrillation, his cardiac anatomy presented a learning opportunity for our team.

Dextrocardia is a condition in which a person’s heart lies within the right, instead of left, side of their chest. According to the National Institutes of Health, it’s a congenital abnormality that occurs in one in every 12,000 pregnancies. Despite having dextrocardia, Kyle has lived a very full life. He and his wife, Jean, each came into their relationship with children of their own; combined, they have nine kids. Over their past 50 years of marriage, they have become proud grandparents to 31 grandchildren, 30 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren. He still golfs every Tuesday and attends every Indy 500 race he can.

While Kyle’s dextrocardia hasn’t held him back, it has created some interesting situations during healthcare visits. His school physician refused to grant him physical clearance when he tried out for high school football, so he had to get approval from his family doctor instead. Once when he received an electrocardiogram, he forgot to tell the staff that the 12 cardiac leads would need to mirror their usual positions. The tracing looked so different that the nurse worried he was having a heart attack!

Thankfully, Dr. Omar Batal, a cardiologist at IU Health West, and the rest of our team in the Cath Lab diligently reviewed Mr. Kyle’s medical history prior to his cardioversion and were aware of his condition. Our team worked together to place the cardiac electrodes and defibrillator pads on the correct, albeit opposite, side of Kyle’s chest before proceeding. The cardioversion was a success, and he reports that his heart has been in regular rhythm since his procedure. As a former volunteer EMT, Kyle has seen first-hand what a difference it can make when medical personnel are aware of patients’ underlying conditions and know how to properly manage them. Our hope for him is that he’ll continue to enjoy life’s curve balls for many years to come!

IU Health West has the only 24/7 Cath Lab in Hendricks County. Learn more about IU Health's heart and vascular care at iuhealth.org/heart.